


Like Glitter and Gold

by aguamala



Series: I'll Be Your West Coast, Honey [19]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Getting Lost, Multi, Protectiveness, Travel, actually there are no automobiles but the other two are there, based on my vague recollection of chicago from the last time I was there, trains planes and automobiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29665215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aguamala/pseuds/aguamala
Summary: Seungmin loves staring out the windows of planes, trains, and cars.Or, Seungmin and Jeongin get separated from the rest and Felix feels strongly about it.
Relationships: Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix, Kim Seungmin/Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Lee Felix/Yang Jeongin | I.N, OT8 - Relationship
Series: I'll Be Your West Coast, Honey [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1475081
Comments: 17
Kudos: 134
Collections: A Light In The Hallway 'Verse





	Like Glitter and Gold

Seungmin loves staring out the windows of planes, trains, and cars. Minho likes to roll the car windows down when he can, joking that Seungmin’s going to hang his head out the window like a dog. Seungmin likes to argue that even corn fields are more interesting than Minho’s face. 

They’re placed next to each other on the plane to America, with Felix in the window seat on the other side of Seungmin. Chan had volunteered to sit between the Terrible Twos (Hyunjin and Jisung), leaving Jeongin kicking the back of Seungmin’s seat and refusing to admit that he held Changbin’s hand for the whole takeoff. 

Felix, on the other hand, is still holding Seungmin’s hand. He occasionally squeezes it, tugging Seungmin’s attention out the window to a pretty cloud or a boat. Felix is objectively prettier, though, in a way that’s difficult to ignore when the sunlight hits his freckles just right. 

“I wish I had my camera out.” 

“I know,” Felix gushes. “Isn’t the sunrise so pretty?” 

Seungmin just smiles. 

“Puppy doesn’t want to take pictures of the sunrise,” Minho cuts in. “Puppy wants to take pictures of you.” 

Seungmin flushes, whacking at Minho. 

“What? It’s not like it’s a secret that Felix is gorgeous.” 

It’s Felix’s turn to blush, hiding his face in his hands. One of those hands, however, is still tangled with Seungmin’s. Seungmin just leans over and plants a kiss on the top of Felix’s head. 

“You are gorgeous, love.” Felix snuggles into his shoulder. 

Minho sits back, satisfied. Seungmin captures his hand for a moment and lays a gentle kiss on the knuckles. It earns him a soft smile before he puts his headphones back in. 

“D’you wanna watch something?” Felix asks. There are still four hours left of their flight and Seungmin has nothing better to do, so they put on some old animated film about a dog and a fox that Felix swears ‘is just like Minnie and Innie.’ 

Jeongin ends up watching half of it through the crack between Seungmin and Felix’s seats, using the Korean subtitles to parse out the storyline. 

Seungmin asks what about the film reminds him of his and Jeongin’s relationship. 

“Gay subtext,” Felix says. Jeongin snorts. 

“Are you saying our relationship is only subtext?” Seungmin asks, a little incredulous. “I spend fifty percent of every day pestering him for ‘subtext’?” 

Jeongin laughs loud enough to make Minho send Seungmin and Felix a dirty look. Seungmin mouths  _ sorry; _ Minho huffs and turns away again. 

Felix has collapsed against Seungmin’s side, shaking with silent laughter. 

Days later, Seungmin finds himself staring out a different set of windows, this time in the midday sun. They’re high in the air on the L in Chicago, taking a rare day to sight-see without cameras. 

“Hyung, hyung!” Jeongin’s tugging at his arm, looking out the window across the compartment. “Can you read the buildings for me?” 

“Of course, Innie.” Seungmin lets Jeongin pull him across the compartment at the next stop, and he starts translating the big signs on the buildings. Luckily, they’re going fast enough he can just skip the ones he isn’t as confident on. Why do so many brands have french names? Seungmin has no idea what to do with that many vowels in a row. It’s ridiculous. 

It’s easy to lose track of time when he has Jeongin next to him, completely enthralled. 

The next time he turns to check with Chan on what stop they should get off at, he finds the car full of completely unfamiliar people. 

“Uh, Innie?” Jeongin turns around and immediately notices the same thing. 

“Oh, no.” 

“Should we get off?” 

“Probably? At least that way we can’t get any further from them.” 

Seungmin loops his arm around Jeongin’s, keeping a tight grip so they don’t get separated as they worm their way off the train and onto the platform. They stop next to a map, letting the rivers of people flow around them. 

“So…” Jeongin’s voice is tiny and Seungmin pulls him closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “What do we do now?” 

“I think–” Seungmin cuts off as someone runs into him. He pulls Jeongin with him until they’re standing against the wall, out of the trafficked path. “We should call Chan.” 

“I think that’s a good idea. Is there somewhere quiet we can get to?” 

“I hope so.” 

They get off the platform and find a quiet nook. Seungmin activates his location services and dials Chan. It barely starts ringing before it’s picked up. 

“Lix–” is all they hear of Chan’s voice before– 

“Seungmin? Jeongin? Are you both together? Are you okay? Are you still on the train? Get off at the next stop and we’ll figure out how to find you. Seungmin, do you still have the find-me app on your phone?” 

“Felix,” Seungmin tries, but Felix doesn’t stop. 

“Make sure you have that enabled, okay? We’ll come to you so don’t worry about finding us. Get to some sort of landmark and–”

_ “Felix,” _ Seungmin says. “We’re  _ fine.  _ We got off the train and my location is already on. We’re still in the station; will you ask Chan whether he wants us to go outside or not?” 

Jeongin presses himself to Seungmin’s side as the words on the other end of the phone turn mumbled and incomprehensible. 

“Get outside of the station and down to ground level, but stay there. We’ll get to you soon,” Chan says. There’s a moment of fumbling noise before Felix’s voice returns. 

“I’ll stay on the phone with you the whole time to keep you updated.” 

Seungmin’s phone buzzes for a moment with an incoming message. He pulls it away from his face to see a text from Hyunjin, reading:  _ he’s going nuts bc his treasure’s gone _ and before he can respond another arrives:  _ good luck getting out of arm’s reach for the rest of the trip. _ Seungmin sends back an emoji before returning the phone to his ear. 

Felix is still rambling, mixing English and Korean. Seungmin only half-listens, using the rest of his brain to figure out how to lead Jeongin outside. Jeongin, at Seungmin’s request, digs through his backpack for his wireless earbuds. Once each of them has an earbud in – though Seungmin has the one with a mic – he and Jeongin can share slightly exasperated looks every time Felix says something particularly patronizing. 

He means well, they know he does, but the fact that neither of them are native speakers doesn’t negate the English skills that they both have, particularly Seungmin. 

_ He shouldn’t be underestimating you, _ Jeongin signs.  _ You speak English the best out of the rest of us. _

Seungmin, though he understands siren-sign, can’t sign back so he just smiles softly, trying to reassure Jeongin wordlessly that it’s okay. 

Felix’s voice cuts off abruptly for a few seconds. 

“Lix?” Seungmin asks hesitantly. There’s some rustling on the other end. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” Felix says. “We got onto a bus so I had to take my earbuds out for a minute. You guys still okay?” 

“We’re fine. I think we’re almost outside.” 

“Okay. We’re on a bus now, and I think the stop we’re getting off is close to the train stop you’re at so I’ll let you know when we get off.” 

“Sounds good, Lixie.” 

Seungmin and Jeongin find their way to an escalator. It brings them down to a glass-lined lobby. 

“Which side?” Jeongin asks. They’re on a corner and Seungmin has no idea which side of the building they should be on so the others can find them. 

“Um.” 

“Seung?” Felix asks. “You okay?” 

Jeongin looks up at him and Seungmin thinks he’d do anything to make sure Jeongin’s always safe from now on. 

“Yeah, we’re fine.” Seungmin pops the earbud out for a moment, holding it away from his face. “Innie, let’s just stand on the corner.” 

Jeongin nods as Seungmin replaces the earbud and takes his hand. They weave through the light crowd and manage to get themselves out onto the sidewalk. 

“Hyung?” Jeongin asks quietly. Seungmin murmurs a reassurance to Felix before muting their end of the call. 

“Are you okay, baby?” Jeongin nods timidly. 

“I– We’re gonna be okay, right? They’re gonna find us and we’re gonna be alright?” 

Seungmin wraps an arm around Jeongin’s shoulders, pulling him in close. 

“We’ll be okay. Everyone’s on their way, my phone has location services on, and we’ll be back with them really soon.” 

“Okay,” Jeongin says. 

Seungmin hadn’t even considered how much scarier this is for Jeongin. If he gets separated from Seungmin, he’s on his own in a huge city speaking a language he’s barely above conversational in. It’s a genuine nightmare for a lot of people. 

“Hey, Innie,” Seungmin says, turning to face Jeongin fully. “We’re staying together. I’ll be with you the whole time until everyone gets here, and for as long as you need after that. We’re together, we’re safe, and we’ll be back with everybody else soon.” 

Jeongin nods before burying himself in Seungmin’s shoulder. Seungmin wraps him in a tight hug. 

Felix’s noises on the other end of the line increase sharply in volume. Seungmin lets go of Jeongin with one arm to unmute their end and ask if he’s okay. The other arm keeps Jeongin tucked against his chest. 

“I’m all good,” Felix says, sounding out of breath. “We’re almost at our stop! Chan says he thinks he can see the building where you guys are.” 

“Okay. We’re on the corner by the exit, right next to the building so we’re out of the flow of people. Let me know if you want us to find the bus stop or if you need me to, like, stick my arm up or something.” 

“Okay,” Felix chirps. He seems much more light-hearted now that they’re approaching. Seungmin pets through Jeongin’s hair. 

“They’re almost here,” he murmurs. “We’re okay.” 

“Is Jeonginnie okay?” Felix asks, probably unaware that Jeongin can hear him. “Is he worried? Is he panicking? Is he–”

_ “Felix.” _ Seungmin’s voice is steady but not sharp. “He’s fine. We’re both fine. You focus on getting here, we’re both alright.” 

Jeongin’s fists clench in the back of Seungmin’s shirt. His breath is unsteady on Seungmin’s neck. 

The timbre of noise from Felix’s end changes slightly. Seungmin lifts his head up, scanning around. He soon spots Hyunjin’s tell-tale gait and locates the group heading towards them. 

When he makes eye contact with Chan, he hangs up the call with Felix and puts both his and Jeongin’s earbuds back into the case. Jeongin makes a soft noise of confusion, but Seungmin pets through his hair. 

“They’re coming. I can see them.” 

Jeongin perks up, keeping his hold on Seungmin but bouncing a little to see over the heads of the people around them. 

“Oh!” he says. “I see them too!” 

Felix reaches them first and immediately wraps them both up in his arms. The rest of the group surrounds them moments later, quickly becoming an obstruction to the flow of traffic. A general cacophony of  _ oh thank fuck we found you _ and  _ we were so worried _ and  _ are you okay are you sure you’re okay can I check that you’re okay anyway _ starts up, much to Seungmin and Jeongin’s chagrin. 

“Guys,” Seungmin calls, managing to be heard over the street noise and his boyfriends. “We’re okay. Can we go somewhere we’re not blocking traffic?” 

“Oh, shit,” Chan says. He bustles all of them down the street and into the first coffee shop they find. 

“I’ll get drinks.” Minho pushes them all toward a big booth in the back corner. “If you want food you’re on your own but go sit.” 

Felix keeps himself tucked between Seungmin and Jeongin, an arm around both of their waists. Seungmin was loath to let anyone between himself and Jeongin, still trying to convince himself that Jeongin’s okay, to reassure himself that others are allowed to protect his pack. He understands Felix’s need, though. Seungmin and Jeongin were the first to be claimed as treasure, and although the others are included now as well, Felix is still the most possessive over the two youngest. 

Seungmin’s pulse has returned to normal by the time Minho arrives, carrying four drinks. He sets them on the table and immediately turns to retrieve the other four. Seungmin takes his coffee and sips at it absentmindedly, listening to the usual chatter start up. 

The topic does, of course, drift back to Seungmin and Jeongin’s little adventure. 

“Chan counted all of us when we left the station and flipped the fuck out,” Hyunjin says. “I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.” 

Seungmin sinks into his seat a little. 

“We didn’t mean to worry you guys,” he says. 

“It happens to the best of us,” Changbin reassures, reaching over to squeeze Seungmin’s hand. “What matters is that we’ve got you back, yeah?” 

Seungmin nods, and Changbin turns back to his conversation with Jisung. 

“Were you guys…” Jeongin trails off for a moment. Felix squeezes his shoulders. “Were you guys worried about us the whole time?” 

“Yes,” Felix starts, indignant. Chan reaches across the table to ruffle his hair. 

“Oh, once we got on the phone with you I knew you two would be alright. It was honestly Felix I was worried more about; for a bit there I honestly thought he was ready to burn down the city looking for you guys.” 

Felix levels a dark glare at Chan. 

“Not funny,” he grits out. Chan grins, lopsided and playful. 

Jeongin stares between them. 

“Do I want to know the context?” he asks. Chan grins brightly. Felix sighs. 

“Lixie’s dad may have started a, uh, small fire in London in the 1660s.” 

“The–” Changbin is facing them now, jaw dropped. “The Great Fire of London? Lix, what?” 

Felix buries his face in his arms. 

“That’s sick, bro,” Jisung says. Seungmin physically winces. 

“And here we have Jisung, self-proclaimed fluent English speaker and full-time frat boy impersonator,” Jeongin announces. Jisung kicks him under the table. 

Felix stays clinging to Seungmin and Jeongin for the rest of the day, insisting they stay with him when the group inevitably splits mid-afternoon. Jisung joins them, yelling something about “maknae time” in the general direction of a mildly concerned Chan as he drags them off. 

It makes sense, honestly, to keep Jisung with them. He’s the one Felix is least likely to get snippy with (aside from maybe Changbin) and he’s rowdy, but talented at keeping both Seungmin and Jeongin calm when need be. Besides, the three of them need a calmer afternoon and Jisung’s anxiety appears to be spiking a bit. 

Seungmin makes sure to take his hand as they walk. 

They stop by a bubble tea place – Seungmin orders for Jisung and Felix for Jeongin – before finding a small park. 

“Do you think we could go to the planetarium tomorrow?” Jisung asks. “I know we’ve got stuff all evening but we could go in the morning or early afternoon.” 

“I was hoping to go to the aquarium, actually,” Jeongin says. “Unless we’re saving that one for a video later.” 

“We have another free day after the concert,” Seungmin adds. “We could do both then, like the aquarium in the morning and the planetarium in the afternoon or vice versa.” 

Jeongin and Jisung both make agreeing noises. 

“Chan’ll probably want to go to the … what was it called?” Jisung looks around, like any of them have the answer. “The Field Museum? Field History Museum? That one.” 

“Oh,” Seungmin says. “Yeah, he probably will. Nerd.” 

“You’re one to talk,” Jeongin says, leaning across Felix to slap at Seungmin’s leg. Seungmin realizes then that Felix hasn’t talked in a bit. He’s just sipping at his bubble tea and watching them. 

“You okay, love?” 

Felix blinks, startling out of his reverie. 

“Yeah, I’m good. Just keeping track of you all.” 

“Lixie, babe,” Jisung says. “We’re not going to up and walk away. We’re all too comfy for that.” 

“I guess,” Felix says, but he doesn’t sound convinced. Jeongin and Seungmin both shift closer to him, trying to reassure with their actions where words won’t help. 

They sit in silence for a bit, letting the sounds of the city and the lake wash over them. 

“Are we doing a boat tour later this week?” Jeongin asks a couple minutes later. “I thought I remembered seeing it on the itinerary but I’m not sure.” 

Seungmin pulls his phone out, digging for the picture he took of the itinerary before they left Korea. 

“Uhh, yeah.” He finds it. “Here we are. Yeah, we’re doing that the day after tomorrow.” 

“Sick,” Jisung says. 

“You’re really not helping your ‘I’m not a frat boy’ case right now,” Felix says. Jisung yelps and Jeongin snorts. 

“I’m not a frat boy,” Jisung argues. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Seungmin says. “You still talk like one.” 

Jisung whacks at his thigh until Seungmin soothes the sting of his words with a kiss on the cheek. 

Although Seungmin is supposed to be rooming with Jisung, he has a sneaking suspicion he won’t be back to their room until late, if he comes back at all. He warns Jisung as much, and gets a hand-wave and a noise that mostly translates to ‘yeah I figured.’ 

“We’ve got the whole trip, anyway,” Jisung says. “I’m sure I can let Lixie steal you for one night.” 

Seungmin smiles and gives Jisung several kisses before Felix arrives at their door, Jeongin in tow, to more or less abduct him. They cross the hall and end up in the queen bed in Felix and Jeongin’s room. Felix apparently took advantage of the unpacking time to rearrange the sheets and blankets on the bed into a nest. Felix pushes Seungmin and Jeongin onto the bed, fussing around them to make sure they’re both comfortable. 

“Lix,” Seungmin says eventually. “We’re fine.” 

“But what if you could be more comfortable?” Felix asks, looking surprisingly forlorn. 

“We’ll be more comfortable when you’re laying with us,” Jeongin says. Felix blinks at him. 

“Oh.” 

He climbs in and gets cozy between them. It’s no surprise when, moments later, his wings come out and drape over Seungmin and Jeongin. Seungmin shifts his arm so he can gently hold the wingbone, stroking it with his thumb. Felix melts into them, finally relaxed. 

“There you go, baby,” Jeongin murmurs. “We’re okay. Your treasure is right here.” 

“Right here,” Felix mumbles. 

Seungmin smiles and lets warm scales and hair that smells of dragonfire carry him to sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a kudos or a comment and follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/unaaguamala) or ask questions on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/aguamala)


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